A city man with a booze problem has admitted shooting at a cabby with a prohibited gun, injuring his girlfriend while driving drunk and making threats at knifepoint.

Devon James Salmond, 25, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Provincial Court to charges of careless discharge of a firearm, possession of a loaded, prohibited weapon, possession of an unregistered prohibited firearm, possession of a knife and impaired driving causing bodily harm.

The Crown is asking for a six-year prison sentence while Salmond’s lawyer is seeking a five-year term.

Crown prosecutor Keith Nicholls told court that Salmond had been walking along 115 Avenue near 81 Street about 3 a.m. on July 7 when an eastbound cab drove into the area.

As the taxi neared him, Salmond pointed a 9 mm handgun towards the cabby and fired off seven rounds, said Nicholls, adding the gun used is prohibited because it holds a 15-round magazine.

Court heard one round hit the driver’s side tire, one hit the bumper and one hit the passenger door.

Nicholls said if the latter shot had been eight centimetres to the right, it would have hit the cabby right in the head.

Salmond fled as police were called, however he was found nearby passed out on top of the gun and grossly intoxicated and was arrested, said Nicholls.

The prosecutor called the shooting a “very disturbing” incident. “He fired a loaded weapon more than half a dozen times,” he said. “Isn’t that aggravating?”

Defence lawyer Chady Moustarah said Salmond was drunk, fearful and “very angry” that night after two bouncers at a downtown bar “ambushed” him in a case of mistaken identity and doesn’t recall how he got the gun.

On Jan. 1, 2011, Salmond was driving a 1999 Honda Civic east on 98 Avenue near 104 Street when he lost control and smashed into a retaining wall. His girlfriend was trapped in the car and ended up with a broken collar bone, a broken shoulder blade and three broken ribs.

Nicholls said Salmond, who suffered a shattered ankle, had a blood-alcohol level of twice the legal limit.

On March 21, police responded to a weapons complaint at Ed’s Rec Room in West Edmonton Mall where Salmond had got into an altercation with a group of people and pulled a knife while making a threat, court heard.

Salmond, who apologized for his booze-fuelled actions, is slated to be sentenced on Friday.

As Advertised in the Edmonton SUN

Edmonton man admits to shooting up taxi during a drunken bender

A city man with a booze problem has admitted shooting at a cabby with a prohibited gun, injuring his girlfriend while driving drunk and making threats at knifepoint.

Devon James Salmond, 25, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Provincial Court to charges of careless discharge of a firearm, possession of a loaded, prohibited weapon, possession of an unregistered prohibited firearm, possession of a knife and impaired driving causing bodily harm.

The Crown is asking for a six-year prison sentence while Salmond’s lawyer is seeking a five-year term.

Crown prosecutor Keith Nicholls told court that Salmond had been walking along 115 Avenue near 81 Street about 3 a.m. on July 7 when an eastbound cab drove into the area.

As the taxi neared him, Salmond pointed a 9 mm handgun towards the cabby and fired off seven rounds, said Nicholls, adding the gun used is prohibited because it holds a 15-round magazine.